Set up Microsoft 365 Backup

Permissions

You must be a SharePoint Administrator or Global Administrator to be able to access the Microsoft 365 admin center and set up Microsoft 365 Backup.

Create an Azure subscription

If you already have an Azure subscription, you can skip to Set up pay-as-you-go billing. If you need to create an Azure subscription, follow the guidance in Create your Azure subscriptions or start creating a subscription on Azure.

Set up pay-as-you-go billing

To set up pay-as-you-go billing, you need to have this information:

Once you have the information on this list, you're ready to begin. As a first step, you should link an Azure subscription in pay-as-you-go, if you haven't already done so. The billing setup is consistent with other Microsoft 365 pay-as-you-go offerings.

To set up pay-as-you-go billing for Microsoft 365 Backup, follow these steps:

1. In the Microsoft 365 admin center, select Setup, and then view the Billing and licenses section.

2. In the Billing and licenses section, select Activate pay-as-you-go services.

3. On the Activate pay-as-you-go services page, select Get started.

   

   Note

   To set up pay-as-you-go billing for Microsoft 365 Backup, you must provide an owner or contribution role on the Azure subscription to be used.

4. On the Pay-as-you-go services page, on the Billing tab, select Syntex services.

5. If you don't have an Azure subscription or resource group, follow these steps. If you have an Azure subscription and resource group, go directly to step 6.

   To create a new Azure subscription with the same organization and Microsoft Entra tenant as your Microsoft 365 subscription:

   1. Sign in to the Azure portal with your Microsoft 365 admin, Microsoft Entra DC admin, or Global Administrator account.

      Important

      Microsoft recommends that you use roles with the fewest permissions. This helps improve security for your organization. Global Administrator is a highly privileged role that should be limited to emergency scenarios when you can't use an existing role.

   2. In the left navigation, select Subscriptions, and then select Add.

   3. On the Add subscription page, select an offer and complete the payment information and agreement.

   To create a new Azure resource group:

   1. On the Set up pay-as-you-go billing panel, select Learn more about Azure resource groups.

   2. Or, you can follow steps in Manage Azure resource groups by using the Azure portal to create a resource group.

   

   Note

   The resource group should be mapped to the Azure subscription you provided when you set up pay-as-you-go.

6. If you have an Azure subscription, follow these steps:

   1. On the Set up pay-as-you-go billing panel, under Azure subscription, select the subscription from the dropdown list.

      Note

      The subscription dropdown list won't populate if you don't have an owner or contributor on the subscription.

   2. Under Resource group, select the resource group from the dropdown list.

   3. Under Region, select the region from the dropdown list.

   4. Review and accept the terms of service, and then select Save.

You have successfully set up billing. You can proceed to turn on Microsoft 365 Backup.

Turn on Microsoft 365 Backup

To turn on Microsoft 365 Backup, you need to go to the Microsoft 365 admin center.

1. In the Microsoft 365 admin center, select Setup.

2. Under Billing and licenses, select Activate pay-as-you-go services.

3. On the Activate pay-as-you-go services page, select Get started.

4. On the Pay-as-you-go services page, select the Settings tab, and then select Syntex services.

5. On the Syntex page, in the Storage section, select Backup.

6. On the Backup panel, select Turn on.

7. On Turn on Backup panel, review the applicable terms of service for Microsoft 365, and then select Save.

Enable email notifications

Email notifications help ensure that potentially harmful or important changes in Microsoft 365 Backup solution are brought to the attention of multiple people in your organization. This reduces the risk of critical actions going unnoticed.

When enabled, Microsoft 365 Backup sends email alerts to a Backup Notification List whenever an important backup event occurs. Global admins and Microsoft 365 Backup admins can turn on this feature and update the notification list at any time.

You can add up to 20 individual recipients to the list or include distribution lists and security groups. By default, recipients are notified only about potentially harmful events, but you can also opt in to receive notifications for routine events. Notifications are sent as a daily email digest when at least one relevant event occurs. If both notification types are enabled, you receive two separate emails—one for potentially harmful events and another for routine events.

Events that trigger notifications

Potentially harmful events

• Disabling Microsoft 365 Backup
• Pausing billing due to issues or admin action
• Removing protection units from backup policies
• Offboarding protection units (deletion of backups)
• Pausing a backup policy
• Transferring backup controllers between Microsoft and third-party providers
• Revoking the Controller app
• Changing membership in the Backup Notification List
• Enabling or disabling the notifications feature

Routine events

• Completing backup routine jobs
• Creating or modifying backup policies
• Initiating or completing restores

Set up multi-admin notifications

1. Sign in to Microsoft 365 admin center as a Global admin, Microsoft 365 Backup admin, SharePoint admin, or Exchange admin.

2. Go to the Manage notifications option on the Backup panel, or the Email notifications option on the Microsoft 365 Backup home page.

   

   

3. Turn on notifications.

4. Add users, distribution lists, or security groups (only email enabled) to the Backup Notification List.

5. (Optional) Select the checkbox to also receive routine event notifications.

6. Save your changes.

Create backup policies to protect your data

Now that Microsoft 365 Backup is enabled for your organization, follow through to create policies and start protecting your content.

1. Go to the Microsoft 365 admin center.

2. Select Settings.

3. Select Microsoft 365 Backup from the list of products.

   

4. Create backup policies for OneDrive, SharePoint, or Exchange.

Admin roles and backup management privileges

Only tenant-level admins can create and manage backups using Microsoft 365 Backup for their users. End users don't have the ability to enable backup or restores for their user account, distribution lists, mailboxes, or sites. It’s important to note that your admin role determines which products you can manage with Microsoft 365 Backup. We have also introduced a new dedicated role for this tool, the Microsoft 365 Backup Administrator, that can control the entire tool. For more information about this role, see Microsoft 365 Backup Administrator.

Glossary

• Protection units – SharePoint sites, OneDrive accounts, or Exchange Online mailboxes backed up by the Microsoft 365 Backup tool.

• Restore point – A prior point in time from which you can restore a version of your content and metadata. If the protection unit from a prior point in time is identical to the present state of your data, then a restore from that point has no effect on your current data.

• RPO – Recovery point objective, or how close in time the most recent restore point is to an impacting event.

• RTO – Recovery time objective, or how fast a restore to a prior point in time might complete.